Something To Ponder​A blog by Nancy Zimmerman

Ah, yes. Back in 1985, I took a vacation to Florida. I had a friend in Boston who had sent me the key to his Florida condo near the causeway that led to Sanibel Island. He told me to be sure to go to the island, that I would love it. He was right. I loved it so much that I decided to get a timeshare week so that my children ( who were 8 and 6 at the time) would have a place to vacation when they were grown and had children of their own.

Nice dream there, Nancy. There were several years where money was tight or children were occupied with other activities that we did not visit yearly. I would rent the week out and that worked well. It was about fifteen years ago that I needed Sanibel. I needed the peace it offered. I invited my daughter to go with me. She and I had issues that we resolved to not only put on the back burner, but also to just simply not address at all. It worked. It began an honored tradition of going down there every other year or so. This is our year to go to Sanibel. My daughter took a friend and her daughter last year. I thought, since there is room in the car, it might be nice to invite them along again this year, so we did. I am finding that, as my daughter calls with yet another “idea” I may have to rent a U-Haul before we get there. I purchased a large beach umbrella years ago so the sun could be shielded from the grandkids when they were little and also from my Irish skin which does not deal with the sun well. Last year my daughter thought it would be a good idea to get one of those cabana-type, pop up, tent-like “things.” It folds and packs in a carrying case and isn’t too large. She says it is “really easy, Mom,” to put up. Well, okay. I don’t plan on being the one to put it up, so if she says so, it is fine by me. Now, she wants me to bring the umbrella also. So...we now have the umbrella, the holder that goes into the sand, and the tent thingy. We can’t forget the beach quilts that I made, so there are two of those also.I am on a restrictive diet this year so I will have to be carting my food for the trip down. Add one small insulated bag. It would also be a good idea to take staples for us to fix meals so that we can buy here and have some of the groceries with us so that we do not have to get large amounts of food at one of the two grocery stores on the island. That will be another styrofoam cooler and a soft pack cooler. Oh, yes, add a box filled with miscellaneous items that we might need for meals like seasonings, aluminum foil, etc. There will be three adult women and two girls filling the car, so we can definitely count five suitcases to be loaded. We will have a case of water and I will need about thirty bottles of my protein drink. I am not sure what else we will decide we need before the trip begins, but all I can say is, “I am glad I have an SUV or we would never have enough room.” I think, it is safe to say, this makes flying, staying in a hotel and eating all meals out sound very desirable. There will be more to follow as we are on vacation on beautiful Sanibel Island this summer.